A Lesson in Ownership

The Day I was Put in A Spot – A Lesson in Ownership

Some memories never fade, no matter the passage of time. This incident came so strongly to me this morning with a strong impression to share.

22 years ago, in the year 2002, I was posted to Government Commercial College, Sabon Gari, Zaria, Kaduna State as a Youth Corper (NYSC) to teach English Language and Literature. I had such a wonderful year of national service, meeting and making a number of great friends at NCCF. There is a place in the outskirts of Zaria, called Wusasa, that casts a strong sensation of peace on you.

So, back to the incident that sparked the Zaria rhapsody. I was walking toward the staff office of my school that afternoon during the break period, when two of my students who were best friends, Caleb and Jonathan, ran to me very agitated.

“Excuse me sir! Excuse me sir!” They shouted.

“Is there any problem?” I asked.

It turned out they were arguing over a pen which they both claimed was theirs and they wanted me to judge the matter and decide who owned the pen.

You can imagine my confusion. How was I to know who owned the pen between the two of them?

Calmly I took the pen from them and looked carefully at it. There was nothing to indicate who the real owner was. I asked them again to confirm who owned the pen. Each of them was adamant that it was his.

All of a sudden, without premeditation, I told them I would break the pen and divide it between the two of them. Now this was an ink pen, so breaking it would obviously make it unusable.

Immediately, one of them said, “Yes sir, break it!”

The second boy went, “No, no, no, sir! Please don’t break it!”

Calmly again, I handed the pen to the second boy. “Have it. It is yours.” Then I started walking away wondering what just happened and where did that come from.

Behind me, the two boys burst out into a loud laugh that attracted more attention to us, and they kept saying, “Sir, you are Solomon! Sir, you are Solomon!” to my receding ears as I kept walking away without looking back at them.

“You are Solomon, sir!” That was all I kept hearing.

Solomon? Even I was dazed at the instantaneity of the solution and I simply muttered, heavenward, “Thank you, LORD.”

I still reference this incident when talking to my wards, mentees, colleagues and folks. The moral of the story is having a sense of ownership. As with that woman who decried Solomon’s verdict to cut the living baby into two and my young friend’s protest that I should not break the pen, the owner of a valuable will not allow his/her asset to be destroyed, if they can help it.

The same applies to anyone who may not be the actual owner, but who has an ingrained sense of ownership. There is a way they apply themselves that makes them the darling of leaders. It is called a sense of ownership.

To Your Success!

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